


Not Alone

by Soilforged, TyrannoVox



Series: Off Course [2]
Category: Transformers (Unicron Trilogy), Transformers: Cybertron
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bigotry & Prejudice, Denial of Feelings, Feelings Realization, Friends to Lovers, Hot Shot has PTSD, Hot Shot has Panic Attacks, Hotshot is a Halfling, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Panic Attacks, Possible smut in the far future, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Profanity, Protective!Optimus, Self-Esteem Issues, Slow Burn, Strangers to Friends, Trauma carried over from Armada, creative liberty with characters, headcannons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2019-11-15 02:05:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18064499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soilforged/pseuds/Soilforged, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TyrannoVox/pseuds/TyrannoVox
Summary: What if Hotshot actually got to Dirt Boss? What would the mech do?





	1. The First Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Something me and my friend came up with. Originally, this pairing was suppose to be just a crack thing that was suppose to be a funny little thing...we were oh so wrong.
> 
> This is the result. So...we hope you all will enjoy and remember to leave comments for us to read!
> 
> Posting of chapters will be every Sunday or Every other Sunday.  
> 

Hotshot slumped as he sat on a boulder, his chin resting against his palm, optics dim in concentration on what to do next. He was still not even close to beating Override and it was so damn aggravating! How was he supposed to beat Override and get the Cyber Planet Key at the rate he’s going?

“Ugh!” Hotshot threw up his servos. “What the slag am I supposed to do?!”

As predicted, nothing answered back, making him get more gloomy. He could really feel the weight of the mission resting on his shoulders and he absolutely did not want to fail at all and...well...he didn’t want to disappoint Optimus either…

He let his helm fell into his open palm, letting out a small sigh before he stood, about to leave when a noise caught his attention. He looked down from the cliff he was standing on and he saw the same purple truck that he had first seen when he and Red Alert first came here. In front of the truck was a familiar red motorcycle and green racing car. He frowned and tried to listen as closely as he could.

“Whoever this Megatron guy is, he can eat my dust.” he heard the purple truck told the two with a sneer in his voice. “I don’t take orders from off-worlders. I’ll defeat Override my own way! Transform!”

The truck transformed into his robot mode, making Ransack and Crumplezone follow suit.

“Come and get it!” the purple mech snarled as he ran forward, trying to land a punch on either of the two, but because he was slow, the two dodged him instantly. Then, the two were on either side of him and attacked, landing twin blows on him before Crumplezone uppercutted him, sending the purple mech to the ground.

“This guy is a little thick-headed, isn’t he?” commented Ransack. “Must be the titanium skull plate. What do you think?”

“You do the thinkin’ Ransack, I just smash stuff.” Crumplezone answered with slight glee in his voice.

“Don’t try to play me.” the purple mech growled as he began to glow purple. “CYBER KEY POWER!”

The key came and entered the slot on his back and the barrels on his shoulders hummed to life before they let loose their blasts, seemingly striking the two. Once the smoke cleared, it was revealed that Crumplezone had taken both of the blasts without a scratch.

The two called out to their keys which went into their slots, calling out their weapons before they fired, both blasts hitting the other mech dead on. The mech slammed into the ground on his back and Ransack walked over, putting a ped on the downed mech’s chest.

This was when Hotshot had enough and he jumped over the side before he used the wall of the cliff to kick off, towards them.

“Would you rather have us friends than enemies?” Ransack began but was cut off when a flash of a silvery blue smashed into him, knocking him off of the purple mech. The two rolled a few feet before Hotshot was punched off of the red mech.

Hotshot managed to stay on his feet, his frame tensing, readying himself for a full blown fight. “Two against one is hardly a fair fight, isn’t it?”

“We’re Decepticons, of course we don’t fight fair!” snapped Ransack. It was then that an engine sounded, making everyone turn to see who was coming towards them.

Override transformed a few feet away, her optics zeroed in on Ransack and Crumplezone, making her scowl. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“What does it look like?” Ransack snarked at her. “Being helpful citizens of course.”

“He fell down and is crying like a little bitty girl.” Crumplezone added as the purple mech got to his feet.

“He just happened to fall down, huh?” snorted Override before turning her gaze to Hotshot. “Hotshot?”

“They were attacking him.” Hotshot stated without hesitation. “I intervened.”

“That’s what I thought. I suppose you can handle it?"

“Of course.” 

Override nodded and with one last look, she transformed and drove off, leaving the group to their own devices.

Hotshot turned towards the two Decepticons, optics narrowing. “So, you want to try your luck with me again?”

“Tempting.” Ransack adjusted his grip on his blaster and Hotshot could tell he wanted to bring it up to bare.

Hotshot glared, his frame tensing up as he ready himself. If it was a fight they want from him, it’s a fight they’ll get. 

“Eh, you’re not worth it.” Ransack finally stated before he put his canon away and transformed along with Crumplezone. Then, they were driving away, leaving the other two where they were.

Hotshot watched after them before he turned towards the purple mech. “Hey, uh...you alright?”

“Bad enough that  _ she  _ had to show up. Now I gotta live with the fact a goddamn offworlder saved me,” He didn’t even acknowledge Hot Shot, grumbling to himself as he stretched a bit, quickly recovering from being attacked.

Hotshot...couldn’t help but let the word ‘rude’ filtered through his processor. Wait a minute…

“How did you know I was an offworlder?” questioned Hotshot.

“Well, aside from the fact you  _ obviously _ look it, yer also stupidly small for a standard frame,” He paused his stretching to glare at him, his tri-sight flashing a bit, “Plus this thing here can tell, sorta,” He pointed to the device over his right optic.  

“Right...Well, anyways, you alright?” he decided that being polite would be the best bet… and then, the two mechs made optic contact which Hotshot swore made his spark do...something from within his chamber. He mentally shook it off, deciding to not think too much into it.

“I will be once I can get away from all you clowns,” The other huffed. He turned away, about to transform back into vehicle mode, when a nasty jamming sound screeched from the wheel frame on his back, and he yelped out in pain, falling to a knee.

“Oh for… Awesome. Jammed up.” He got his bearings before looking up at Hot Shot, looking extremely reluctant, but at this point he was stuck.

“Uh… Do you offworlders have any know-how with fixin’ up a jammed t-cog and possibly a messed up wheel module?” He asked, though he still sounded just as pissed as he did in the beginning.

“I personally don’t, but my friend does.” Hotshot reached up and activated his comlink.

::Hey Red, can you get over to my positions?::

::...Why? Did you hurt yourself  _ again _ ?::

::Just get over here.::

::Fine. Be over in a few::

Hotshot almost winced as the comlink fizzled off before looking back at the other mech. “My friend’s on his way.”

“I heard,” the mech replied, still avoiding looking at Hotshot. His pride was still hurt, but he’d be damned if he was about to let it show now.

There was a click, and then the hissing of escaping air and disengaging hydraulics as the entire chassis on his back released and dropped to the ground. The truck kneeled down to look over the frame, every so often glancing  _ very quickly _ at the offworlder nearby.

Hotshot simply stared off at the horizon without much care as he waited for his long time comrade to come. After a few minutes, he could see the mech driving towards the two, transforming and once he saw that it was another local, gave Hotshot a annoyed and conceding look before walking over to the local.

“What seems to be the problem?” he asked as he knelt down.

“Two things, I think… Biggest one is my damn t-cog got jacked up thanks to a couple of losers,” He turned, his back facing the medic as he gestured to what appeared to be several ports that the wheel frame connected to, including one half of a transformation cog that appeared twisted and damaged inside his back.

Red Alert nodded and got to work but Hotshot couldn’t see what he was doing, so he simply looked around, making sure that that Ransack and Crumplezone doesn’t come back. 

“I hope that one of those losers wasn’t my friend here.” Hotshot heard Red Alert state, making his from tense and bristle.

“Hey!” he snapped. “If you must know, it was Ransack and Crumplezone! I just came in to help is all!”

“Yes, yes, what else is new?” 

“....I hate you.”

“No you don’t.”

Red Alert finally finished after some time before he stood, nodding to himself. “There you are, t-cog is fixed. Anything else?”

The Purple mech cautiously attempted to reattach his wheel frame. It was a little damaged, but wasn’t anything he couldn’t personally fixed. The frame reattached just fine, and he transformed back into vehicle mode, though his right side sagged a bit from the damage to the module.

“Nope. Looks like I’m all set for now. Next time I see y’all I’ll make sure not to accidentally run you over,” He cackled, and then went quiet for a moment.

“Anyway uh… Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Red Alert straightened up slightly.

“He gets a thank you but I don’t?” Hotshot almost whined, frame sagging and he was sure that Red Alert had just rolled his optics under his visor. Hotshot just fake sniffed. “At least Clocker and Brakedown appreciates me…”

“Act your age, Hotshot.”

The truck had heard the exchange, and snickered loudly, “You don’t get a thank you because I know yer type. Cocky-ass lil standard frame thinking he’s some big shot, when he’s just a punky little brat.”

“What did you just say?!” Hotshot snapped, growling as he glared at the truck. “I’ll show you…!”

“Hotshot!” Red Alert cut in sharply, giving the younger a look before letting his voice drop to a whisper. “You know our orders.”

“Tch…” Hotshot turned away with a huff. “Whatever. Let’s just go and check in with Clocker and Brakedown."

“I’m sorry about him.” Red Alert apologized. “He’s...not usually like this.”

With that, the two transformed and drove off, leaving the mech to his thoughts.

* * *

 

As Dirt Boss drove off, as far away from any no-good street cheats and weird, cocky offworlders as he could, he found himself thinking about the two strangers. Particularly the car. There was a weird moment between them when they made optic contact for a split second, and the truck felt like his spark just jumped a cycle. 

_ Great, another issue I gotta worry about. First my t-cog jams up, and my wheels get fucked up, and now I got a spark murmur,  _ He thought to himself, as he tailgated a particularly slow, smaller offroader.

“HEY ASSHOLE IT’S A NO SPEED LIMIT ZONE, GET GOIN’!” He shouted, ramming into the back of the vehicle, who swerved and finally let him pass.

“Today’s just not my day, is it?” He mumbled to himself, quickly sinking back into his thoughts.

That medic… Red Alert was his name? Now that was a mech that he had no issue with. Then again, he was biased towards medics who weren’t selective with who they helped. A super rare thing on Velocitron, where you could only get any sort of medical care if you were a standard frame and rich.

And then the kid… He was infuriating. Dirt Boss hated his type; obnoxious, cocky, thinking they’re the shit when they’re just dumb kids. And of course he was a standard frame to boot.  _ And  _ an offworlder. Still… What the hell was that weird feeling he got? It was just a split second, but it was still fucking weird. 

_ Ah, who cares. Probably just a hitch in my spark from all the stress. I see that kid again trying to be the good guy, I’ll just run him over. I don’t need anyone, especially not some spoiled, self-important offworld standard! _

**“Y’all can all burn for all I care!”** He shouted at nobody in particular, though a few nearby bots overheard and were confused. They were even more confused when Dirt Boss started cackling like crazy to himself as he used the slope of the shoulder to launch himself off the road and onto the sand below, driving off deeper into the desert...


	2. A Ride Around

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see, Soil was finally able to help me finish off ch2. We'll be starting chapter 3 soon, so stay tuned!
> 
> Enjoy and make sure to tell us what you all think so far!

“Hotshot...are you brooding?” Red Alert asked the said mech once he noticed that he was on the designated berth for the mech. Hotshot hadn’t moved at all since they had gotten back yesterday and… it was slightly concerning. He only have seen Hotshot like this on a few rare occasions. Could it be from meeting the local? If so, why?

“I’m not brooding.” Hotshot muttered, staring at the ceiling and laying on his back with a frown. Yes, he was brooding, but he had a good reason to...Well, in his processor at least.

Who did that local think he was, acting like he already know Hotshot when he knew nothing! He detest bots like that with a passion. Oh, how he wanted to prove that local wrong…

His frown deepened once he thought back to that meeting, specifically to his spark in that moment. What the slag was that? His spark had never did that before in his life. Was it a bad thing? Should he ask Red Alert about it?

No...no, he couldn’t. He couldn’t give Red Alert another reason to call and bring Optimus here.

“Hello, Clocker.” He heard Red Alert greeted, which made Hotshot turn his head to look towards Red Alert’s direction. There he could see Clocker standing beside the other mech.

“Hi, Red Alert! I just wanted to ask Hotshot if he’d like to see the Tritrack area with me! If you guys are gonna be here for a little while to get that Planet Key, you might as well learn the area a bit!” He beamed, almost bouncing on his peds. His expression changed to a look of worry when he saw Hotshot looking as happy as a sandstorm.

“Hey, what’s the matter?” The young mech asked, immediately going over to Hotshot.

...Primus, this mech made him think of Sideswipe- well, a more younger, cuter version of him.

“He’s fine. Just throwing a brooding fit.” Red Alert stated with a sigh. “He saved a mech yesterday and the mech was hardly...thankful... For that.”

Hotshot grumbled before turning his attention fully to Clocker now. “I’m fine. To answer your question...Yeah, I wouldn’t mind going to this Trit-thing area with you.”

He got off of the berth and stretched slightly before looking down at Clocker. “Lead the way.”

The younger bot laughed, “Tritrack’s just the name of this neck of the woods. Okay then! Let’s go!” He excitedly ran out of the building, transforming into vehicle mode.

Hotshot quickly followed, transforming himself before the two tore off and down the road, Hotshot following the Clocker closely. He made sure not to overtake him at all and just continued at the pace he was going. “So...where are we going exactly?”  
“Not really anywhere specific! I just wanted to show you around the area, starting with Stargaze Springs. This is where we are now! Most of the bots here live in neighborhoods built underneath the highways, like me and Brakedown’s home. And most of us are standard frames here who just don’t like the more urban areas.” The little car explained, slowing down every so often to a near stop as he panted a bit.

“Hey bud, you alright?” Hotshot’s voice held concern as he slowed down to keep up with the younger mech. “You want to stop and take a break?”

“I’m...I’m fine, I think…” Clocker replied, though he sounded a bit anxious. The two were driving through a relatively lively area with other bots mulling about, most in vehicle form, though there were some going about their daily business.

“We gotta keep moving, c’mon…” He noticed that a few bots were shooting him a glare, and he quickly pushed himself to start moving again, though he was clearly having trouble with his intake.

It didn’t take Hotshot long to notice the glares and he couldn’t help but let out a loud rev of his engine before pulling close beside Clocker.

“We will go by your pace, alright? No ifs, ands or buts about it.”

“We could get in trouble though if we’re moving too slow… Slow Velocitronians aren’t really allowed to do much…”

“Well, those who have a problem with it will taste my problem with them.”

“It’s more than just some jerks having an issue with me. It’s pretty much illegal.”

Hotshot simply huffed and continued to drive beside the younger mech, glaring at whoever he sees that’s glaring at Clocker. Oh, how he hated mechs and femmes like that since he, himself, was subjected to those similar glares…

He mentally shook his helm before turning his attention in front of them once more, trying to ignore those slagheads.

Clocker still couldn’t help but try to drive as fast as he could, which, compared to the average Velocitronian, was a snail’s pace. Even though Hotshot had reassured him, promised him that he’d protect him…

They were approaching a more densely populated area, where most of the bots were in root mode to navigate the narrow alleys. It was even more tightly packed than Stargaze Springs, and Clocker began to try to drive faster, panting heavily as he drove.   
“We have to get outta this area, Hotshot. I wasn’t thinking and… I led us right into one of the wealthy areas…”

Hotshot frowned slightly, looking at the other. “You’re not allowed around here because of where you live or something?”

“I’m not allowed around here because this is for elite standard frames… I’m not even supposed to.. To still… To still be alive…” He got much quieter as he spoke the last few parts, acutely aware of the glares following them as they sped through the streets to find a way out.

The older mech growled, his engine threatening to just rev up loudly. He held back, trying to keep his anger in check. He did not want to make things worse for Clocker, no matter how much he wants to threaten everyone here.

“They are a bunch of idiots. Is there any exits close to us?” Hotshot questioned.

“I...I don’t know… I don’t remember… I haven’t been here since I was… Really really little…” The little mech was nearly wheezing at this point; he was so terrified of being discovered as a ‘non-standard standard’ that he was willing to blow out his engine just to get out of the city.

“Clocker, you need to slow down and pace yourself. We will get outta here when we do. You need to calm down or else you’ll blow your engine out.” Now Hotshot was starting to get really worried for the mech.

“You don’t get it…” They reached a clearing in the bots, the crowds thinning out a bit as they started to reach the city limits, back towards safety.

“...That city is where I’m from…”

“I think I get it just fine Clocker...:” he muttered under his breath, continuing to follow.

They got to an area that looked like a blend of commerce and junkyards, fenced off with a single entrance and an exit on the other side of the strip. Only when they were within the fence did Clocker slow down to his normal pace, panting and wheezing, but relieved.

“Now we’re safe… We’re in one of the town buffer zones.”

“Here, lets pull off so you can rest.” Hotshot veered to the side of the road and stopped before transforming and looking around, making sure no one was around or close to them to cause trouble.

The youngling transformed, immediately collapsing onto a bench, reaching into his subspace. He pulled out what looked like a Human inhaler, and took a few puffs. There were a few mechs conducting some scrap sales, but they paid no mind to the pair. They only looked for a moment out of curiosity before returning to their business.

The silvery blue mech took a step closer to the younger and rubbed his back as soothingly as he could. “You alright?”

“I haven’t… Gone that fast in a… Really long time…” Clocker could only talk in a near-whisper as he caught his breath. His body was extremely hot as well, though the younger mech didn’t seem concerned about his physical state.

“Come on, let’s get you under the road and get you in some shade.” Hotshot nudged the younger mech to where he could get down safely before following. The older mech sat against the pillar with a small sigh before looking over at Clocker.

He sank to the ground, sitting in the shade as his breathing started to steady. He put the inhaler back into subspace and took out a small energon juice box, opening it and sipping at it slowly.

“I’m sorry… I guess I shouldn’t have tried to give you a tour. It’s too dangerous for me to try to be independent.”

“Hey, it’s alright. We just need to go at your pace.” the mech reassured the other.

“...I wish it were that easy… I shouldn’t even still exist… I mean, don’t get me wrong. I like being me, and I like living! But… I’m not supposed to still be alive.”

“Well you are alive and here, so don’t dwell on it too much.” Hotshot looked out over the landscape. “Primus gave you a second chance, so look towards the future.”

“...Primus?”

“Primus is our god in a sense...though he’s essentially very real and is Cybertron, my planet.”

“Oh…” Clocker didn’t really understand at all. What’s a god? He just nodded, sipping his juice box and looking over at the Stargaze side of the buffer zone.

“...Are ‘bots really bad towards certain groups here, Clocker?” Hotshot knew he wasn’t going to like the answer...but he had to ask.

“...Yeah… They are… If you’re a standard frame and you have no health issues or other ‘defects’, you’re just fine and you’ll have no issues… But if you’ve got issues… Even something as silly as a lisp, you’re marked as ‘non-standard’ and booted to one of the poorer settlements… Sector 15 is basically the trash can of Velocitron. The Tritrack area is just a tiny part of it… Anyone who doesn’t fit the narrow, dumb definitions of ‘standard’ are dumped here… There’s rich areas even here, but as you saw they’re pretty rare…” He paused, looking up at Hotshot, giving him a moment to process all of that before continuing.

“There isn’t just standards and non-standard standards though… Below bots like me you have the slow frames and offroaders. All offroaders are slow frames, but not all slow frames are offroaders. They’re the loud, cranky, bossy bots… But they’re not snobby like lots of the standards are. A lot of the slow frames traded their birthright to race for a life of being rich. Those bots just sponsor racers and… Get richer I guess. It’s weird.

And then… At the very bottom of our planet… We have the two-wheelers... They’re all small like me, and they tend to be a lot more nervous and paranoid, but they’re… They’re good people… And it hurts the most because they’re treated like toys or pets… Not fellow Velocitronians. You won’t see a lot of them around here; a few families in Window Mesa… But they’ve been forced into really poor cities, and then ignored completely, so those areas are in really rough shape…

I know bots from all classes… My best friend is a two-wheeler… I don’t understand why Velocitron has to be this way. Brakedown said that not long ago, but before I was born, the planet was starting to get better… But then it became awful all over again, though he never explained why…” Clocker sighed, kicking a rock aside. He hated talking about this stuff; nobody did except for the snobs of Velocitronian society.

Hotshot had feelings of intense anger once Clocker was finished and, in all honesty, his good impression of this planet was giving way to a very bad impression. How could Override just let all of this slide? Did she really only care about racing more than she does taking care of Velocitron? That wasn’t right...not at all.

“That’s...that’s all just wrong. A planet shouldn’t be like this...it should never…”

“That’s what I thought… What I still think… It’s what a lot of us think…” He hugged his knees to his chest.

“You know something really messed up? There’s no law that says you can’t get rid of your creations… A lot of standard frames ditch their younglings once they discover something’s wrong with them… Or even if they just don’t fit the ‘standards’. I was one of the lucky kids who was ditched when I was little…. But old enough to remember it all. It’s why I was freaking out back there… That’s where my creators live… I remember them… I can easily recognize them… No way did I wanna accidentally bump into them.”

Hotshot felt his frame tense at that and, even though Cybertron had something similar when he was younger, it still made his energon boil. “These creations...they had nowhere to go? No Youth Centers?”

“Brakedown said at one point there were a few… But they were all destroyed during the Civil War and then never rebuilt. So… Technically no. We don’t have anywhere to go. I’m lucky Brakedown found me.”

“Primus…” A hand rubbed Hotshot’s face as he sighed, forcing himself to calm down. He didn’t know what to do in the slightest about any of this. He had a mission that he needed to work on but at the same time, he wanted to help those who need it here...sometimes, he really hated how kind his spark was.

“...I’m sorry. You’re here to help save the Universe. I don’t need to be bothering you with all the issues this planet has,” Clocker patted Hotshot’s leg, embarrassed at how much he had rambled on.

“No, don’t be sorry, I wanted to know all of this.”

“Mm… We should get going back home… I don’t want Red Alert and Brakedown worrying… Plus, I’m totally beat… I need to get home and take a hot bath.”

“Alright. Let’s go.” Hotshot stood, stretching before he climbed back up, helping the younger when he could. He transformed, revving his engine.

Hotshot heard the younger transform as well, and led him back to Stargaze Springs, the drive much easier now that they were in a safe, familiar area.


	3. Encounter

The truck drove along, on his usual route through the Tritrack area. It was about sundown, and the roads were beginning to fill with traffic for the evening travel period. 

“Great, time for all the slowpokes and old folks to come out…” He mumbled to himself, though Dirt Boss’ idea of mumbling sounded more like loudly whispering to strangers. Of course, that only made the other mechs on the road slow down a bit, because who the hell talks like that when he’s driving?

The mech hardly looked at any of the others on the road as he continued on, weaving around the said slowpokes without much care until he decided to just say ‘to hell with it’ and flung himself off of the road and onto the dirt. Much better, now he can go as fast as he wanted without the slow asses holding him back.

He was cruising for Gods know how long when something caught his attention- voices. He slowed down until he was behind a large boulder and transformed before peeking around the said boulder.

He could see a small group of standard frames standing around...something. He tried to take a closer look with his trisight, zooming in as much as he could. Unfortunately, his sight could only do so much, and the quality of the zoomed in view was grainy and blurry, but he could just make out a vaguely familiar silvery-blue frame being shoved back by a few standards. Cowering behind the blue mech was a tiny white-grey frame. 

Dirt Boss frowned, “What...What the hell’s going on?” He mumbled to himself, as quietly as he could manage. He decided he would just observe for now; he COULD step in if needed, but he was very poorly armed for any sort of scuffle.

* * *

 

 

This was not what Hotshot was expecting as he took yet another drive out to see the planet. 

He expected to just…drive, take in more of the sights, the usual. This was the first planet he had been on to have RACING as the ideal lifestyle to live and he was just trying to enjoy himself as much as he could.

He was not expecting to investigate a noise and end up in between a group of standard frames and a very small slow frame. He didn’t even think when he saw what was going on, he just acted. He heard the sparkling whimper behind him and he felt his frame tense as he took to a more protective stance.

“Why the slag are you bothering a sparkling like that?!” Hotshot snapped.

“Little ‘tard was going through the dumpsters,” The taller and older mech spat, glaring down at the little one.

Hotshot stared at the mech for a long moment before shaking his head. “Instead of helping you…”   
  
He shakes his head. “you know what? You guys aren’t worth my time.” 

He turned around, his back towards the mechs to signify his words and kneels down in front of the little mechling with soft optics and a smile, now fully ignoring the standard frames. “Hey, little guy, you hungry?”

The youngling looked up at him, shuddering still in fear. He gave a hesitant nod. Around his neck was a small tag; some sort of ID?

Hotshot was about to offer his hand to the smaller when he heard movement and he quickly scooped the young sparkling up and rolled out of the way just before a foot stomped where he was once crouching. He kept the sparkling against his chest, one of his hands hiding the small frame from the standards.

“You little punk!” one of the standard frames, a silver and black mech, sneered, optics narrowing. “Why are you siding with these filthy frames?!”

“I’m not siding with anybody! You were attacking an innocent sparkling! I will not stand for it!” Hotshot bared his denta.

He didn’t see another one of them coming and he was kicked in his side, making him grunt slightly, wincing. He quickly rolled away again and stood up, his free hand forming a fist as he got ready to defend himself and the sparkling.

“Them filthy mudlines ain’t allowed around here. Standards only. This little retarded runt has been giving us trouble for months now. It’s only high time we taught him a lesson,” The leader mech growled, pulling his weapon and aiming it at the little mech, who let out a loud, terrified squeal.

Hotshot’s optics widened before whirling around just as the mech pulled the trigger and he felt the scorching pain in his back as the blast hit, making him go stumbling forward and he almost went to one knee but he doesn’t and instead, looked down at the sparkling. “It’s alright, I gotcha, they aren’t gonna hurt ya while I’m here.”

The sparkling looked up at him and nodded, clenching his fists to try and be brave.

Then, he heard the footsteps of the standards and with he outstretched his arm before whirling around, his arm swinging and it hit one standard across the neck, officially clotheslining him. Then he jumped to the side as another tried to tackle him and kneed the mech in the abdomen hard. He quickly dispatched the last two mechs effectively before turning towards the remaining mech- the leader.

He snarled, drawing his gun again, “Why do you care so damn much about the mudlines?”

“Because...unlike you...I’m not a bastard who’s too caught up in prejudice and let it cloud my processor.”

“You must be an Offworlder to be so ignorant of the way things are done around here. Allow me to give you a crash course,” He smirked, firing off another shot at the sparkling.

He quickly turns and when the shot hit, he did fall down to one knee this time, grunting. Primus, these mechs can hit hard. He knew that he should be dodging but at the same time, he didn’t know how quick this mech could fire in succession and he didn’t want to dodge and possibly leave an opening for the other to get a hit on the sparkling. His hold had weakened around the small one without realizing it.

The gunner smirked, before letting out a surprised “OOF!” as he was knocked backwards. The youngling had snuck between the two and had tackled the mech, screeching at full volume.

The other mech did a double take, staring at the tiny truck. He growled, drawing his own weapon, “You little retard!”

Hotshot stood up and held out his arm, aiming and then unleashed three missiles from his forearms and they all met the mark across the mech’s chest though only injuring him. He made sure he didn’t hit the sparkling.

The little one hits him in the head before climbing off of him. That’s one down, one to go. Unfortunately, the other mech had locked onto Hotshot, and fires at him.

Hotshot stumbled when the blasts hit, making him gasp in pain. He forced himself to keep standing, no matter how much damage he took and turned around to face off against the remaining mech. “Is that all you got?”

He was already taking aim at the youngling, who stares him down. 

The youngling was still terrified, but it was obvious that he felt braver now with this kind stranger protecting him. He screeched once more and charged into him, knocking him over as well and sending his weapon several yards away.

Hotshot made his way over and then slammed his fist into the other’s helm, knocking him out. Once that was done, he stumbles back and falls on his aft, grimacing in pain. “Red Alert is going to kill me when I get back.” he sighs.

The little truck got up off of the mech and approached him, making a haphazard variety of little chirps and squeaks.

Hotshot looks down at the sparkling before chuckling and then, he got a cube from his subspace that has a lid on it and sets it down in front of the little one. “Here you go, eat up.”

Hotshot could see that the younger was hesitating and he couldn’t fault him for it. Despite his rescuing, Hotshot was still a strange unfamiliar mech. He could be the same if he was in the smaller’s position.

Then, the little white sparkling start to make confused squeaks and Hotshot just kept his arm outstretched, offering him the energon cube, waiting patiently.

After looking at the cube and then back at Hotshot a few times before he slowly took off his mask and visor that he had over his face. Hotshot could see that the younger had one pinkish optic and one baby blue optic, almost like his own optics. The older watched as the younger chewed his bottom lip slightly before taking the cube from the other. With a glance up at the silvery blue mech before the sparkling began to sip some of the energon slowly, much too slowly for Hotshot’s liking but he didn’t say anything.

After a moment, the smaller began to drink faster until it was fully gone and then, with hesitant movements, gave it back.to Hotshot, who took it with a smile.The smaller made Optic contact before nodding with a chirpy squeak.

The contact did not last when there was noise from the highway, causing him to scamper off.

“Hey, wait!” Hotshot took a step forward, going to run after the little guy when he grimaced. “Slag...looks like I’m not gonna be able to follow...I hope he’ll be fine out here…” 

He turned and began to make his way back towards the highway, ignoring the pangs of pain that filled his being.

* * *

 

Dirt Boss stood in that same place, frozen. He had to reset his optic throughout the whole thing to confirm what he was seeing. A standard frame going against other standard frames for one simple slow frame? Unheard of!

And yet, he had witnessed that first hand and he didn’t know how to properly process it. 

Maybe the kid was different-

No! No, the kid must be doing it for some self gain. It was the only logical conclusion.

He’ll just have to corner the kid and get the truth out of him.

With his mind set, he transformed and drove off, a trail of dirt and dust behind him.


	4. Confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY! SORRY! We didn't mean for this chapter to take this much time...especially with how short it is. But, ya know, writers block. Next chapter should be be longer and go a lot smoother since it's an episode with obvious changes. NOW, remember to comment to tell us what you guys think and what not. ENJOY THIS SHORT CHAPTER!

Dirt Boss was waiting. 

He was waiting for the offworlder to head towards where he was standing against the barrier so he can FINALLY get the answers he oh so desperately desired since what he had witnessed yesterday. He needs to know just what the hell the kid’s ulterior motive is so he can put a stop to it, maybe even kicking his aft off the planet.

Sure, he made a vow to run the kid’s aft over if he caught the younger trying to be a good guy again, but he’ll put that off until he got some answers.

The sound of an engine reached his audio receptors and by the sound of it, it was a standard frame. He turned his help to look down the road and there was the kid, driving right towards him. He straightened up and stepped in the middle of the road, turning towards the oncoming offworlder. Time to get some answers.

He watched as the bot took notice of him and skidded to a halt, stopping a few feet away from him before transforming, his...rather boyish face holding annoyance.

“What’s the big idea?!” snapped the younger. “If I wasn’t paying any attention, I would have smashed into you!”

Dirt Boss ignored the other’s words. “You an’ I are gonna have a little talk.”

“I don’t have tim-”

“What’s yer game?” 

“My...game? I don-”

Dirt Boss cut him off again. “Don’t give me that. I saw you yesterday. NO ONE does that shit and not have some sort of ulterior motive.”

"I don't have an ulterior motive, mech. I just want to help others."

“..But why? Why risk yer life for someone you don’t even know?”

“Because I’m an Autobot. We always risk our lives for the weak, for the defenseless, for those in need. If I die doing it, I died doing what I love to do; protecting.”

The truck snorted, a bittersweet smirk crept onto his face as he spoke. “Cute sentiment. You really think that’s ultimately gonna make anything better? Give up now, boy. It’ll save ya a lotta sparkbreak in the end.”

The kid stayed quiet for a moment and he began to view this as him getting to the other’s processor. That was...until the standard spoke once more.

“Perhaps…” The kid looked straight into his optic...and a boyish grin bloomed across his face. “But that ain’t gonna stop me. Sparkbreak or no sparkbreak, I’ll continue to risk my life for others. I’m never gonna give up helping those who need it.”

Dirt Boss eyed the younger mech and deep down… he couldn’t help but be impressed by this kid. If he didn’t know any better, he could have sworn the kid was reminding him of...

He shook his helm, getting rid of those thoughts. No, now’s not the time to think about the best. He needs to focus on the kid in front of him, needs to make sure that this idiot did not make the same mistake…

Wait, he shouldn’t care about this kid. He didn’t know him, the kid is just an outsider, knowing shit about the ways of the planet. He should really try and get Hotshot and his medic friend to leave. The sooner the better, no matter how much his spark skips a beat...or how it felt like it was trying to pull towards the younger in front of him.

“Listen boy, it will do you good if you and yer friend to get yer asses outta here.” 

“We can’t do that, not yet.” Hotshot was quick to fire back, his optics hardening. “We’re here on a mission and we are not leaving until we complete it. So, better get use to seeing us around until then.”

Without further ado, Hotshot transformed and peeled away, leaving Dirt Boss standing there, staring after him.

The older mech huffed, grumbling. Stupid, kind of adorable dorky offworlder, staying where he didn’t belong.

That’s what he keeps telling himself, anyway.


	5. Hero Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are getting into the episodes now! I decided to split Episode Hero into two parts. Hope you guys enjoy!
> 
> If you have any questions about this fic, don't be afraid to ask us!

Hotshot winced slightly as he rested against a tall plateau, Red Alert standing over him. He felt like slag from all the training and modifying he’s been doing to himself and he knew that it wasn’t healthy, he really did. But he couldn’t stop, not with the Cyber Planet Key on the line. He knew that Red Alert didn’t understand it and knew that, if the other’s were here, they wouldn’t understand it either. He was alone in this and thus will continue to do whatever it takes to win the Key.

“You’ve got to stop, Hotshot, it’s too dangerous.” He heard Red Alert say as he was forcing himself up onto his peds.

“I’m okay.” he grunted, straightening up.

“You’re exhausted!”

“I’m…” Hotshot almost fell flat on his face but his friend was there to quickly catch him. “I’m fine!”

“No, you’re not! We should just tell Optimus what’s happening- That we failed our mission-”

“No! I gotta win this race! Optimus is counting on me.”

“But Hotshot-”

“You don’t understand!” Hotshot threw the other’s arm off of him once he straightened up and walked a few feet away before transforming. “I’ve disobeyed his orders and I got nothing to show for it! I gotta win the Cyber Planet Key!”

“Hotshot, stop!” He heard Red Alert behind him, transforming to give chase but he didn’t say a thing, just continued to drive before noticing a familiar purple truck up ahead. He thought for a moment, trying to think what the best course of action was...before he sped up until he was right behind to Dirt Boss, preparing to say something- anything- but the older was speaking before he could.

“Does the wittle bwoo car wanna race?” 

That cocky tone made Hotshot rev his engine loudly. “I never turn down a race!”

“Ya sure ya wanna race with a big boy? Ya might get hurt.”

Hotshot growled. Oh, now he’s all in. He sped up more, coming up beside the older. “Don’t get too cocky!” 

Hotshot pulled up ahead of the older just before they reached the road and was soon driving on pavement.”Ha! There’s no way you can beat me on the pavement!”

“We’ll see about that.” Dirt Boss came up beside him. “CYBER KEY POWER!”

The key came down and slid into the slot, making Dirt Boss’ frame lower so that it was level with his tires. Then, the mech slammed into Hotshot. “Outta my way!”

“Ack- hey!” Hotshot yelped, bewildered. Then, he was slammed and held against the barrier. “What are you trying- you maniac!”

“Nobody beats me, nobody!”  Dirt Boss let off before swerving full speed towards Hotshot. Hotshot quickly slammed on the brakes, making Dirt Boss slam into the barrier hard and Hotshot quickly got ahead of the mech again.

“Geez, that was close.” Hotshot muttered, but he was still confused at the older’s behavior. In all the encounters they had- which was two- Dirt Boss didn’t seem like he would be such a rager so to speak.

“Come back ‘ere, coward!” He heard Dirt Boss yelled out as he started to close in on Hotshot again.

“I thought I was racing to practice, not racing for my life.” Hotshot huffed. “Maybe Red Alert was right. Maybe we should have waited for Optimus.”

“It ain’t over yet, little man!” cackled Dirt Boss, gaining on the younger.

“Hotshot, stop this while you’re still in one piece!” He heard Red Alert shout. “Optimus and the team are on their way! Hotshot!”

Hotshot grunted as he felt Dirt Boss starting to slam into him repeatedly from behind. “A little late for that, don’t you think?!”

“Nobody can help you now, boy.” Dirt Boss growled lowly. “It’s just you and me.”

“What’s your problem, pal?! It’s just a race!”

“My problem...is YOU, pal!”

“Just draw back, Hotshot!” Red Alert snapped.

“What you think I’m trying- Augh!- Trying to do?! This guy’s gone crazy!” Hotshot pulled up more, trying to put as much distance as he could between him and Dirt Boss.

“Run, coward!” Dirt Boss revved his engine. Hotshot continued to try and go faster but he didn’t see Ransack and Crumlezone on a rock wall next to the track until they had already fired at him when he rounded a corner.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding!” Hotshot quickly dodged one blast by swerving to the left and then swerved right to dodge another. This let Dirt Boss to drive around Hotshot and began to speed off.

“I’ve had ENOUGH!” Hotshot transformed and skid a few feet before lifting up his arm and began to return fire on the two native Decepticons. The two jumped down and out of the way, still firing at the younger mech. Hotshot ran to the side, focusing on Ransack before stopping to lift up his other arm. He heard Crumplezone fire at something above him and he saw that rocks were falling towards him.

“Slag, landslide!” Boulders and rocks slammed down onto him and he blacked out.

* * *

 

The shout, paired with the sound of boulders slamming into the ground made that seethingly red rage fading like that of a storm, leaving himself with clarity and he quickly braked, skidding forward a few feet before he swerved around and saw Ransack and Crumplezone aiming their weapons at the mound of boulders. 

“Now, let’s finish the job.” Ransack told his partner as they were about to let one more attack lose.

A blast suddenly landed and exploded beneath the two’s feet a split second later, making them go flying back. A large, red and blue mech landed in front of them, golden optics staring the two down. Another mech landed beside him, this one more ancient looking.

“Just what job were you going to finish?” The red and blue mech asked as yet another mech rolled up. It was obvious that this mech was smaller than the other two and looked like he was a construction vehicle.

“Uh...we’re done.” The two rust buckets scooted closer together.

“Landmine, get Hotshot out of there.” The red and blue mech told the smaller and the smaller did not waste any time in going over to the boulder pile.

“I shall assist.” the ancient looking mech quickly followed after the mech named Landmine.

“Now, as for you two…!” The red and blue mech growled as he took a step forward, holding up a clenched fist. Dirt Boss could see the anger, the protectiveness swirling in those optics and he knew that he would be absolutely fucked if he was on the receiving end of that glare.

He watched Ransack and Crumplezone quickly run away just as the medic got onto the scene.

“Optimus! Optimus, thank the Allspark you’re here!” The medic transformed and landed next to the mech- Optimus. “It’s bad, Hotshot’s in some serious trouble.”

“Who were those guys?” Optimus questioned.

“A couple of local thugs who have been causing trouble. In my opinion, they appear to be working for Megatron.”

“Working for Megatron?”

“Look what I found under a rock?” a new, gruff voice came into the conversation, making Dirt Boss look. He could see Landmine standing there, Hotshot leaning heavily against him.

“I’m okay…” He heard the kid try to reassure the older mechs.

“Oh, yeah, sure you are, champ. You’re just dandy.” Landmine stated sarcastically before looking at Optimus. “Hotshot’s barely alive, Optimus. The kid’s got guts, I’ll give him that much.”

Dirt Boss couldn’t help but agree with the mech about the last part.

“I want answers!” Optimus stated, looking at the medic as thunder rumbled above them and rain started to fall.

“It...looks like we failed.” Red Alert looked down.

“Report, now!”

“Optimus...it was all my fault.” Hotshot spoke up. “Red Alert tried to stop me. I guess I...disobeyed your orders. I made contact with the locals.”

“Hotshot,” Optimus’ voice held disappointment and if Dirt Boss didn’t know any better...he would say that he just saw Hotshot flinch from the disappointed tone. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done here? What your actions might mean for the rest of our mission?”

“Optimus...I know. I’m...sorry but the Cyber...Planet…” the kid trailed off and his legs buckled from underneath him, pitching his body forward and fell to the ground harshly with a crash.

“Hotshot!” Red Alert quickly went to the younger. “Hotshot!”

“We need to get him somewhere and out of this rain.” Landmine carefully lifted up Hotshot the best he could, though it was clear that the older was having some difficulty.

“We’ve been staying with a pair of locals. Brakedown and Clocker.” Red Alert revealed to them.

Dirt Boss kept his distance, still in his alt mode, his spark fighting with his processor. On one hand, he really should be driving away, he does not care about the kid. Not a bit. This was the kid’s own fault, he knew something like this would happen sooner or later.

His spark though... it pulsed with the tiniest bit of guilt. He should have stopped the race when he heard the medic say something. He had decided to shoot up and decided to pull Hotshot into a damn death race in a way that actually almost ended…

He sank on his axles with a small sigh before starting to roll to the other mechs cautiously. Of course, it didn’t go unnoticed and Red Alert zeroed in on him.

“What are you still doing here?” the medic questioned defensively, not that Dirt Boss could blame him. The other mechs followed the medic’s gaze and locked onto his frame.

“I…” he took a deep breath. “I wanna come with...make sure the kid’s okay.”

Red Alert opened his mouth to say something he was stopped by Optimus putting his hand up. The larger mech took a step forward. “You are you?”

“The name’s Dirt Boss and...I am the reason yer boy got into this situation. I roped him into having a race with me and didn’t let him leave when he wanted ta. It’s my fault and I want to make sure he’s fine.” He forced himself to sound sincere as it had been a long time since he had said something like this and mean it.

Optimus said nothing for a moment, just staring down at him, which was making him nervous. He started to think that this was a mistake, that he should have just drove away-

“You may accompany us.”

“...Thank ya, sir.”


	6. Hero Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, I'm debating if I should keep the first few races in or if I should just maybe skip to the big major race. What do you guys think?
> 
> Now, enjoy this chapter!

Dirt Boss stood off to the side, away from the others with his arms crossed, just staring out of the entrance, staring at the rain that was coming down in sheets. They had gotten there just in time.

“Please be alright, Hotshot.” Dirt Boss heard the youngling, Clocker, plead as the kid stood at Hotshot’s berthside. “He’ll be okay won’t he, Brakedown?”

“If you believe he will Clocker, and if he believes.” Brakedown answered.

“I...I believe!”

Dirt Boss couldn’t help but snort quietly at that. That was a load of bullshit. Absolute bullshit.

“Thanks for the help, Brakedown.” The mech heard Optimus this time.

“Eh, it’s no big deal, Optimus Prime. My home is your home for as long as you like. It’s the least we can do after all you boys have done for us. Clocker, help me bring in some energon.”

The purple mech looked over his shoulder, watching as the old mech and the youngling went to do just that. His optic flickered to the prone form lying on the berth and he scowled for a moment. He started to regret coming with right now, he didn’t belong with these mechs. Stupid kid for making him feel this damn guilt.

“Red Alert, why didn’t you tell me about this?” He heard Optimus questioning the medic.

“Yes, I know.” Red Alert sighed. “Hotshot just started racing with his heart and forgot to use his head.”

“That wasn’t your decision to make, Red Alert. I counted on you.”

Dirt Boss glances over at the two, having a feeling that there was something that was left unsaid within that statement.

“I...I know…” Red Alert looked down, ashamed.

The purple mech watched as the Autobots gather around near the entrance of the home, huddled. He took this chance to approach the kid’s berthside, glancing down at the prone form. He could feel his spark swirl, almost pulling towards the kid but he ignored it. He didn’t understand it and when he doesn’t understand things, he ignored them.

“Alright, Red Alert,” Optimus began, making Dirt Boss look up at the group. “Why don’t you tell us what's really going on around here.”

“Yeah,” Landmine chipped in. “There must be something worthwhile.”

“Well, we think we have identified the Cyber Planet Key.” Red Alert told them.

“Where?”

“We believe its disguised as the racing trophy.”

“Racing trophy?” questioned the ancient mech.

“Yes, it makes perfect sense actually. In a culture based on racing, its logical a trophy would be the most valued of all objects.”

“That’s crazy.” huffed Landmine, making Dirt Boss twitch and he gave Landmine a glare. What did this mech know about this planet?

“And who has this trophy?” asked Optimus.

“Her name is Override.” Red Alert answered, making Dirt Boss’ face hardened at the name of the planet leader.

“I see now.” The ancient mech hummed. “I do believe Hotshot was racing to win this trophy from the planet’s champion, Override.”

“Ridiculous.” Optimus spoke up, making everyone look at him. “We can’t wager the galaxy on a road race.”

“B-bu-but Optimus!” Red Alert stuttered.

“I have to bend the rules of Speed planet for now. I’ll meet with Override myself, she’s got to see reason.”

“Yer wasting yer time.” Dirt Boss grunted out, making Optimus look over at him. “She ain’t gonna listen ta ya. All she cares about is racing, to the point where she doesn’t really run this planet.”

“I have to try.” Optimus argued. “She must see reason.”

Dirt Boss shrugged. “Don’t be disappointed when things don’t go yer way, then.”

He watched as Optimus walked out and transformed, driving away. It was around this time that Clocker and Brakedown walked in, handing everyone a cube of energon. He took his, stepping away and went back to his original spot but this time, he was facing into the room, watching as Clocker went back over to Hotshot’s berthside with Red Alert following, downing his cube before starting to work on the kid once again. Soon, the other Autobots gathered around, watching as the medic worked.

“How is he?” Dirt Boss heard Landmine ask.

“Well,” Red Alert began after a moment. “I’ve repaired the damage to his reaction chambers and replaced two of his fuel cells. Now, we just have to watch and wait.”

“Watch and wait?” Clocker sounded worried.

“I’ve done what I can here. The rest is now up to Hotshot.”

“All this from the landslide?” asked the ancient mech.

“Mostly from racing...and modifications…”

That gave Dirt Boss a pause, his cube half way up to his lips. The kid had been doing what now?!

There was a small grunt and Dirt Boss knew that Clocker perked up without seeing the youngling.

“It looks like he proton flow is back at one-eighteen.” Red Alert stated after a few minutes of silence.

“So, that’s good?” asked Landmine.

“Yes, Landmine, it’s very good.”

Another grunt left Hotshot’s vocalizer before it was quiet for a minute… “Primus...my aching frame.”

“You will have some aches for a day or two.”

Dirt Boss drained his cube, setting it down on a table not too far away from him and looked outside, watching the rain.

“Optimus went to talk some sense into Override.” Landmine told Hotshot. “I’m sure that he can straighten this all out.”

“It won’t make any difference to her.” Dirt Boss heard Hotshot moved as the younger talked. “All she cares about is racing.”

“Yes, I thought so too, but with any luck, maybe Optimus could change her mind.” The medic stated, entirely too optimistic in Dirt Boss’ opinion. “Anyway, the important thing right now is you. How do you feel?”

“Useless.” Hotshot answered, making Dirt Boss’ helm snapped around, over to the group. The kid sounded so...defeated, so disappointed in himself and so self loathing. Dirt Boss would have never thought he would hear this level of self-loathing coming from the kid.

“Oh, come on now.” Red Alert’s tone was gentle. “There’s a problem with your transmission, but we’ll get that all worked out. Until then, avoid using second gear and your flux capacitor-"

“Don’t waste your time. There’s no point in fixing me, Red Alert. I’m useless, anyway.”

“Hotshot! I am NOT letting you give up on this now- or for that matter, EVER!”

“...Don’t give up…” Clocker pleaded.

“Clocker…” Hotshot sighed, His tone so unlike all the other times Dirt Boss heard him talk. “Optimus is right. I’ve jeopardize the mission. I’m out.”

“I wish you could hear yourself!” Landmine cut in, trading places with Red Alert. “Everybody takes a pounding once in a while but let me tell ya, we all gotta keep on going."

“Optimus...never should have sent me here.”

“Hey, don’t say that!” Clocker told the racer.

“Now, what type of talk is that?” Landmine huffed.

“I totally messed up the mission.” Hotshot grunted. “I’m no good to anyone.”

“Hotshot, that’s not true-” Red Alert began but it seemed like Landmine stopped the medic.

“I’m glad you said it.” Landmine stated harshly. “Saves us all a lot of trouble and I sure ain’t big on trouble.”

Now that got a reaction out of Hotshot. “What?!”   
  
“Our mission’s tough enough without wildcards like you on the team. I’ll be glad when we can ship your useless tailpipe back to Earth.”

Hotshot...didn’t say anything, just kept quiet.

“How can you say that?!” Clocker huffed angrily. “Like YOU’RE so great, Hotshot saved my life! He’s the bravest, toughest Autobot I’ve ever seen! Compare to you-”

“Clocker,” Hotshot spoke up. “That’s enough. Landmine’s right.”

The kid stood up and began to limp out of the home and it was still raining outside.

“Hotshot, come back!” Clocker quickly scrambled to follow Hotshot out. “Hotshot!"

“How could you say that to him?” Red Alert looked over at Landmine. “He looked up to you.”

“You should not judge Landmine so harshly, Red Alert.” the Ancient mech stepped forward towards them. “Though his words seemed mean, They are born out of great kindness and precisely the lesson Hotshot needed to learn. You should be more respectful.”

“Kids these days.” Brakedown walked into the room, making Red Alert turn to him. “You still don’t get it, do you?”

“Get what?” Red Alert tilted his head.

“You can fix up Hotshot’s body sure enough, but there’s not a doctor alive who can restore his spirit. Right now, Hotshot feels lower than the bottom of your oil pan but he still got his pride. Landmine had to say what he did for a stubborn kid like Hotshot, that’s the only way to snap him out of it and get his fighting spirit back. But I’m just an old man, what do I know?” Brakedown turned and went on his way.

“Landmine…” Red Alert looked at the older mech. “I didn’t understand. I’m sorry…”

Dirt Boss took this time to walk out of Brakedown’s home and quickly follow after Hotshot and Clocker, but made sure to keep his distance.

It wasn’t long before the rain stopped and they got to a cliff, Dirt Boss making sure to keep out of sight. Out of the corner of his optic, he could see Optimus Prime standing behind the boulder, back against it, optics staring out at the horizon.

“I don’t understand, Clocker.” Hotshot sighed, making Dirt Boss look at the two younger mechs. “I just try to do the right thing. The harder I try...the worse things got...Maybe Landmine’s right. Maybe I don’t have what it takes to be the heart of the team.”

“Hotshot…” Clocker sounded sad and worried.

“I feel like such a punk!” Hotshot growled, angry at himself. “I thought I could save the universe! I thought I could be a hero!”

Hotshot turned and slammed his fist against a boulder that was to the left of him. “But I...I just mess it all up. I always mess it all up…”

“Maybe you didn’t safe the universe,” Clocker took a few steps towards Hotshot. “But you saved me and Brakedown and that makes you my hero. Don’t you understand that?”

“Clocker, I…” the kid sounded like he was going to choke up. Had the kid never got that said to him before? “...Thanks.”

“Listen, you’re my hero, so I’ll never give up on you, Hotshot. Never. But that means you can’t give up on me either. No matter what!”

“I’ll never give up, Clocker.” the kid turned around towards Clocker. “I promise.”

Dirt Boss felt his body beginning to move towards the two without his consent and cursed inwardly. Stupid spark. Of course, his approach was heard and the two mechs looked over at him. He could see Hotshot’s relaxed expression turned into one of defensive, not that he could blame the kid.

“What are you doing here? Waiting to ram me again?” Hotshot questioned him.

“Actually, no. I wanted to talk and-” Dirt Boss tried not to grimace at his next words. “-To apologize.”

He saw the kid tilts his helm but kept quiet, listening. 

“I wasn’t in my right mind when we had that race and...I am...sorry...for doing what I did.” Dirt Boss hoped that the other believed him because really, it was tiring as all hell trying to hate the kid like he’s been telling himself. He watched as the kid made his way over to him, the defencive expression still on his face. Blue optics met his lone pink one.

Then, the defensive expression melted into a boyish grin which surprised Dirt Boss. No way the kid would actually forgive him!

“It’s fine! Isn’t the first time someone wanted to knock me off of the road!” He stuck out a hand towards the other. “How about we start over? The name’s Hotshot of Iacon, Cybertron.”

Dirt Boss stared at the mech and the outstretched hand, not believing how forgiving the kid was. He doesn’t move for a long moment before, finally, he rose a hand up and took the offered one in a firm handshake. “Dirt Boss of Window Mesa, Velocitron.”

Neither of the three noticed Optimus leaving, having heard everything he needed to hear.

* * *

 

“As I suspected.” sighed Red Alert once Optimus explained what had happened once everyone was gathered. “Override just won’t listen to reason.”

Dirt Boss, who was standing a little bit closer this time and standing beside Hotshot, rolled his optic, holding back the need to blurt out ‘Told ya so!’ and continued to listen to the conversation.

“Well, at least if we had gotten here first, she might have believed our side of the story, but now...blast that Megatron.”

“There’s nothing more we can do.” Red Alert sighed once more.

“No…” Hotshot clenched his fists, back facing the others. “It can’t end like this! Not when we were so close…”

Silence deafened the room and Dirt Boss glanced at the kid. No one knew what to say...until Optimus spoke up.

“There’s still one chance.”

Everyone looked at Optimus except for Hotshot and the leader continued. “We will follow Hotshot’s original plan.”

Out of the corner of Dirt Boss’ optic, he saw Hotshot perk up at that before Optimus continued to speak. 

“Tomorrow morning, we race.”

“Can we win this race?” questioned the ancient- Vector Prime. Dirt Boss should really do better in remembering his new...teammates ...names….

“It’s not a question on whether we can do it, we must do it. We have no other choice."

“Hm... very well, than.”

“But you must realize,” Red Alert cut in. “There’s only one of us who even has a chance of defeating Override.”

“Of course.” Optimus nodded and turned towards Hotshot. “Hotshot, front and center!”

Dirt Boss watched as Hotshot took a deep breath before turning around to face his leader. “Optimus?”

“I know you’re still injured. Do you think you can handle this?”

“Whatever it takes, Optimus.” Hotshot stated with conviction, standing up straight. Dirt Boss could have sworn he saw a flash of pride in Optimus’ optics.

“Red Alert, Clocker,  I want him ready to race.”

“Right!” Red Alert nodded, Clocker echoing him.

Optimus took a step closer to Hotshot, putting a large hand on Hotshot’s shoulder. “The future of the galaxy is riding on you, Hotshot. I know you won’t let us down.”

“Thank you.” Hotshot smiled up at Optimus, making the older squeeze his shoulder before turning to the others.

“The rest of us will run defense. The Decepticons will do their worst to keep us from winning.”

“Thanks guys.” Hotshot looked at the others.

“And I want you to remember that you’re not alone out there.” Optimus told him, making him look up at the older. “You’re part of a team. We’re there to watch your back.”

“Right Optimus, I’ll remember.” 

“Don’t forget,” Dirt Boss finally spoke up, making them turn towards him. “I’ll be in the race with you all too and I can take a hit. I can be the kid’s literal shield if worse comes to worse.”

Optimus nodded in acceptance to his words before looking at Red Alert. “You and Clocker work on Hotshot. Landmine, you survey the track and distribute the data. Vector Prime, we need you to keep an eye out for Megatron. There’s no telling what he might do now.”

They all said their affirmatives.

“Alright team, we have a hard road ahead of us, but let’s not forget what we’re fighting for. For Velocitron, for Cybertron, for Earth, for home!”


	7. Champion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end of the Velocitron arc finally. Make sure to tell me what you guys think about this chapter and the fic over all! Enjoy!

Hotshot was nervous. Excited because he got to the final race, but nervous.

Out of all the previous races, he always landed in the top four and, if he was honest, he couldn’t have done it without his team, without Dirt Boss or Coby. He had almost forgotten what it was like to be on a team, mainly because of the ten year peace and...well, the only thing anyone had to worry about was the black hole and as far as Hotshot knew, they just had to survive it- of course, this mentality was before Vector Prime came and the Decepticons rearing their head once again.

Now, he had just seen what the final track will be like and, as Coby just said, it really did look like a roller coaster.

“Oh man!” Hotshot spoke, pushing his nervousness down. “I can’t wait to tear that thing up!”

“Hold on.” Red Alert spoke up, making Hotshot look over to where the older was seated. “We have a problem. The damage you suffered affected the pathways that delivered commands to your main engine.It’ll be like you never had driven your vehicle mode before.”

Hotshot felt his spark sank.

“Well, let’s fix him then.” grunted Landmine.

“We just don’t have time. Sorry Hotshot.”

“So, that’s it? The race is over? No way! There has to be a way to win!” Hotshot stood and turned towards Red Alert and Landmine. “Just tell me what I have to do- tell me!”

“I don’t know.”

“Coby, you okay?” Hotshot heard Clocker ask, making him look at the human.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I was just thinking of something.” Coby paused for a moment, then he began his tale of his own race and by the end of it, he was looking at everyone. “My dad taught me to never give up, no matter what, and I’m not gonna start now. We just have to find a way for Hotshot to win. I know we can do it!”

“You’re right.” Hotshot nodded, smiling down at the boy.

“Wow, I guess you really do need Coby here.” A familiar Australian voice came from the entrance, making Hotshot look up and to his surprise, it was Jetfire, leaning against the frame with a hand. The jet pushed himself off and started to walk over. “You would practically fall apart without him.”

“Believe me, we know. He’s been a great asset!” Jolt chirped.

“You look out for us and we’ll look out for you. We have a deal, Coby?”

“Yeah, sure!” Coby grinned.

“Jetfire, what are you doing here?” Hotshot finally spoke, looking up at the mech.

“Why do ya think? I’m gonna be watching you race. No way I’m gonna miss it.” Jetfire walked over to Hotshot and then, to Clocker’s, Brakedown’s, Coby’s and Dirt Boss’(When did he get there?) notable surprises, leaned down and gently bonked his facemask against the top of Hotshot’s helm, letting out clicks which Hotshot quickly returned, their patterns syncing to their familial clicking pattern.

Hotshot could vaguely hear Red Alert explaining just what it means but paid little attention to it. He was entirely focused on their clicking pattern. It felt like years since they last did it and it felt refreshing. He had missed this. 

“Not to ruin the moment,” Landmine interrupted. “But we need to think up a plan, remember?”

Hotshot felt Jetfire reluctantly pulled away, both of their clicking trailing off. He watched as Jetifre stepped away and went to the side of the berth, motioning Hotshot to get on it. Hotshot did what he was gestured to do, laying down on his back on the berth and waited. He could hear Red Alert tap away at the terminal he was at and he tried to be patient, he really did.

“So, what’s the story, Red Alert?” Hotshot asked when ten minutes passed.

“Well, it’s still not very good I’m afraid.” the medic stated honestly. “Your circuitry would require constant adjustments.”

“And, uh, now in English?” asked Landmine.

“The kid needs someone to ride along with him.” Dirt Boss answered for Red Alert. Hotshot glanced and saw the older mech walking over and standing beside Jetfire. “So they can make those modifications during the race, right?”

“Correct.” Red Alert sighed.

“Well, that shouldn’t be a problem.” Jetfire stated before looking down. “Just have Jolt do it.”

Hotshot felt his spark give a painful stammer at the thought of a minicon, Jolt- not his  _ Jolt _ \- becoming his partner, even if it was only for a short time. 

“I wish that I could, but I’m just too big for Hotshot’s cockpit.” Jolt stated apologetically.

“Figures.” Jetfire sighed.

“So what now?” Landmine asked. No one answered him for a moment.

“I’ll do it.” Hotshot heard Coby declare and he quickly sat up to look at the human. “I have to, no one else can fit in the driver’s seat.”

“Yeah, but Coby, I dunno, it could be very dangerous.” Jetfire told Coby.

“I’m with Jetfire.” Red Alert nodded. “We can’t let you do that.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” Coby tried to reassure them. “I mean, I’ve raced before, and this race is way too important to lose. Come on! It doesn’t do us any good to keep me safe if the whole universe is destroyed!”

“...Okay Coby.” Jetfire finally sighed, making Coby grin.

“But...Jetfire-” Red Alert tried to protest.

“No. Coby’s right, we need him. This is too important.”

“Coby...thank you.” Hotshot murmured to him, smiling slightly.

“Yes!” Clocker chirped. “We’re gonna be so awesome- and I can help in the pit stop!”

“Don’t forget about us- we’re here to help too.” Jolt hummed.

“Yeah!” landmine chimed in. “We’ll all work together on this one!”

“We have to.” Red Alert went back to typing on the terminal. Hotshot couldn’t help but smile and laid back down, deciding that it would be best to spend most of the down time relaxing before the big race. He could hear the others talk among themselves but paid them no attention and just stared up at the ceiling, noting that Jetfire was moving away. Then, he felt an optic watching him. He knew for a fact that it was Dirt Boss, he could just tell.

Since they had started over so to speak, they had become friends and with the older mech helping him in some of the earlier races and that pretty much made Hotshot wanted to listen to his spark, to get closer to the mech but he was hesitant, afraid because of past experiences.

Why his spark’s trying to pull him towards this mech and in what way, he didn’t know and that scared him.

* * *

 

Hotshot sat at the starting line with Override, Ransack and Crumplezone while Cody was secured within him in the driver’s seat.

“Okay, Hotshot. I’m almost hooked up.” Coby hummed.

“Yeah...good…”

“What’s wrong? You’re not worried, are ya?” 

“I’ve just never had a passenger during a race.”

“Don’t worry, Hotshot. We’re gonna be awesome!”

“Right.”   


“Okay, I’m in. Now I can redirect power and adjust your systems as needed. I don’t know what we were worried about at all.”

“Heh, thanks for all your help, Coby.”

“I got your back.”

“Let’s win this!”

Hotshot watched as the three lights lit up one by one before they went dark. Engines roared and tires squealed as Hotshot and the other racers shot off and already, Hotshot passed Crumplezone and Ransack, coming right behind Override.

“You can’t really think you can beat me.” Override stated after a moment, cockiness clear in her tone.

“Done it before.” Hotshot reminded her.

“No way, this one’s mine!”

“Coby, you okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just fast.” Coby assured him.

“It’s going to get faster!”

“Alright!”

Hotshot sped up, starting to overtake Override to get into first place and on a turn, he did but he could feel himself starting to slip and he quickly told Coby.

“I’ll transfer power!”

“You two are a joke!” Override taunted as she took back the lead. Hotshot growled but he was quick to turn back to Coby, asking him if he was fine.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just catch up!”

“I’m on it!” Hotshot drove faster, trying to catch up to Override. He had to push himself more and more...faster and faster…

“Hotshot, your top speed’s dropping!” Coby reported, making Hotshot curse. 

“Can you fix it?”

“I think so, if I can find the cause.”

“Coby,” Clocker came through Hotshot’s speakers. “Check out the drive shaft. It isn’t delivering the full power to the wheels. It fell out of sync with the power circuit, so it’s only getting partial signal.”

“Right, like someone turning a light switch on and off. I’ll create a new path for the signals.” Hotshot felt himself speeding up. “It worked!”

“I feel faster already! Good eye, Clocker!” Hotshot inwardly grinned. He could see the loop coming up and tried to speed up as much as he could. “Coby, we’re about to enter the loop, so hold on and keep your fingers crossed!”

“Don’t you get tired of losing, Hotshot?” taunted Override.

“Ask me after I win this!”

“Ya know what’s funny?” asked Ransack as he and Crumplezone suddenly pulled ahead of Override and Hotshot. “You chumps actually think you have a chance!”

“Yeah!” agreed Crumplezone. “Your puny engines can't keep up with the nitrous injector we installed”

Then, they shot off, pulling away from them.

“They’re so fast!” Hotshot frowned.

“We’re in trouble.” he heard Coby gulped. Hotshot watched as the two entered the loop, going towards the top until they were upside down and then, they suddenly stopped, seemingly floating for a split second before starting to fall back towards the beginning of the loop. The two were out of the race now.

“Looks like it’s just you and me.” Override observed.

“Bring it on, Override!” Hotshot revved his engine loudly. They managed to make it through the loop and it was around this time that Hotshot noticed the two Decepticons were going straight towards the trophy. “Override! The two creeps are going after the cup!”

“What?!”

The two peeled towards the cup and transformed, climbing up onto the platform where the cupw as, the two Decepticons trying to blast their way through the protective field that surrounded the cup. The two were quick to chase them off, which resulted in Hotshot and Override laugh at their retreat until Hotshot felt a sudden pain within him, causing his hand to grab at his chest.

“Come on, we have a race to finish.” Override stated, oblivious to Hotshot’s pain.

“Wha- oh ,yeah.” Hotshot grunted before the two transformed, going back to where they were and began to race once more. Override was in the lead again with hotshot close behind.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect from you, Hotshot, but you’re pretty good.” Override complimented him.

“Thanks, although I already knew that.”

“But I still won’t let you win.”

“You don’t have a choice.”

“We’ve got trouble.” Coby cut in. “The links between your systems are breaking down even further.”

“I thought something was wrong. Just do what you can, Coby. You have to get me to the end of this race.”

“We’ll make it.”

“Thanks Coby. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Hotshot readied himself when they reached the curved area and he was able to breeze past them with ease and came up beside Override. “I’m still here!”

“Well.” Override started. “Let me take care of that, than- ho what’s the matter? Can’t keep up?”

Override started to pull ahead.

“Coby…”

“I know, I’m trying to boost your power right now.” Coby explained.

“Hurry!” Hotshot could feel himself slowing down.

“I found the problem. The connector to the engine circuit is about to burn out.”

“No!”

“That means the engine could stall.” Clocker informed them. “And we can’t fix that through your computer link up, Coby.”

“Hold on! I think I know how to fix it.”

“Great!” Hotshot was about to give a sigh of relief when Coby spoke again. 

“Yeah, but...it isn’t going to be easy.”

“Hey, what is?” Hotshot attempted to joke.

“That’s it!” Hotshot felt Coby lifted up the safety bars and got out of the front seat.

“Woah!” Hotshot yelped as he felt Coby opened a panel and begin to find what he was looking for. “What are you doing?!”

“If I can rewire the circuit to bypass the damage, than you’ll have the power you’ll need.”

“But it’s too dangerous for you to be out of the safety harness. You have to stop!”

“No. Never give up.” Hotshot felt Coby sit up, holding two wires. “Hold on, Hotshot, keep your fingers crossed.”

Coby connected the two wires and Hotshot let out a burst of speed, catching up to Override. He was now neck and neck with her, drawing closer and closer to the finish line.

“Pretty nice moves, too bad it won’t matter because I’m going to win right now!” Override went full speed, pulling ahead of Hotshot rapidly. 

“Listen,” began Coby. “We can’t keep this up for long.”

“What do you mean?” Asked Hotshot.

“This circuit won’t hold forever. You gotta make a move now.”

“You got it! CYBER KEY POWER!” The key slid into place, letting the two winglike things swing outwards and he shot off like a rocket, gaining on Override. 

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Coby whooped.

“You okay, Coby?”

“Don’t worry about me. Just pass Override!”

The two racers were at neck and neck once more, neither wanting to let the other pass. They kept going faster and faster, the finish line coming closer and closer until, finally, they crossed it. They slowed to a leisurely place until they turned around, facing the finish line and the screen above.

“Nice race.” Hotshot stated to Override.

“You too.”

Hotshot stared at the screen, waiting in both anxiety and excitement. He continued to watch, waiting, hoping-

The photo blinked onto the screen, a thin red line showed and the first to cross it…

Hotshot. 

“We actually did it!” Coby cheered. “Even with all those problems, we won!”

“You’re right, we did it. I never could have won without you.”

“No way…” he heard Override muttered.”I lost…?”

She transformed and looked at Hotshot. “Good job.”

Hotshot let Coby out and transformed, watching as the protective field around the cup was taken down. He looked up at the cup only to see a warp gate appearing above and standing in front of the cup was Megatron, Starscream, Ransack, Crumplezone and an unknown black and orange mech.

“Well, thank you so much, Hotshot.” Megatron turned and went to the planet cup, picking it up. “Winning the race lowered the protective forcefield, so I could take this.”

“Guess again!” A voice called out, making Hotshot look up. There, on the ledge stood Optimus, Vector Prime and Leobreaker if he remembered what Optimus said correctly. “Hand it over, Megatron, or we’ll take it!”

The battle began with Vector Prime taking on Starscream, Leobreaker taking on the unknown bot, Optimus taking on Megatron and the other’s taking on Hotshot and Override.

Hotshot rolled out of the way of some of the blasts and saw that Leobreaker was now with Optimus, combining, before he was suddenly tackled to the ground the the orange and black mech, making him grunt. Then, the mech spoke- no,  _ purred. _

“You still taste as delicious as ever, Hotshot. I wonder if you are still as fun as you were back then~”

Hotshot froze as those words hit him and his spark twisted with  _ terror _ . He stared up at that blank visor,  already imagining those same, cruel pink optics peering down at him. No...no, this can’t be real…!

“Y-you’re dead! Optimus killed you twenty years ago!” 

Sideways let out a deep chuckle. “Well, he didn’t do a very good job at it as you can see.”

Hotshot tried to struggle out of the mech’s hold frantically. He needed to get away from this mech, needed to get him off and it was around this time that he was starting to get overwhelmed with the memories- those primus damned memories- he didn’t want to be brought up. He almost didn’t hear Sideways let out a deep growl and he almost didn’t notice the mech’s helm pressing closer to him, as if he could feel the emotional pain that Hotshot was feeling. Primus, he needed to...he had to…!

The mech was suddenly gone and Hotshot too a deep intake, frame trembling. He tried to rein everything in so he could be at least somewhat useful for the others.

Hotshot almost jumped out of his armor when a hand gripped his arm and an arm wrapping around him, helping him up.

“Easy, kid.” The voice of Dirt Boss was coming right by his right audio receptor. “It’s only me. It’s alright.”

Hotshot took a shuddering breath, steadying himself on his peds thanks to Dirt Boss’ help. Then, Override was beside them and, ignoring the purple mech’s scowl, turned to Hotshot.

“You alright, Hotshot?” She asked, concern dribbling into her words.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m fine…” Hotshot shook his helm. “Come on, we gotta go get the cup away from Megatron. Override, you and I will trip him up so Optimus has a chance to get a hit. Dirt Boss, you catch the planet cup once Megatron drops it.”

He didn’t give them time to answer as he transforms and speeds off towards the leaders, Override right behind him.

“You want it? Come and get it.” he heard Megatron sneer, making him grin.

“Alright!” Hotshot called out, making Megatron look.

“Have a nice trip Megatron,” Override began.

“See you next fall!” Hotshot finished before the both managed to trip up the warlord. Optimus was quick to use this chance to attack and the cup was up in the air. Starscream quickly attempted to get it but Dirt Boss was already there, sliding under and grabbed it, making Starscream landed where the cup and Dirt Boss had been.

“You...will pay for this.” Megatron growled as he stood up, sparks flying from his shoulder. Then, he was retreating with his Decepticons right behind him. 

Hotshot hardly remembered getting off of the track or the platform racing upwards and lock back into place and he hardly remembered getting ushered onto a smaller platform along with Coby by his side. It was all a flurry of motion for him. Yet here he was, standing, looking at the red carpet that was leading to him before he looked at the stands, at the bystanders cheering. Caffetti was raining down around him and all of this...made him feel good. Really good. He slowly lifted his arm and started to wave.

“And here he is, your new champion,  Hotshot from the planet Cybertron!” The announcer...well, announced.

Hotshot looked at the red carpet and noticed Override walking towards him with the cup securely in her hands. She stopped in front of him and held the cup out. He took it and lifted above his head, making the cheering grew louder.

“You know, Hotshot? You may have defeated me but I owe you a thank you.” Override told Hotshot, making the mech look at her questionably. “I would have been happy racing my whole life away, but you showed me there’s a whole Universe out there, so thank you.”

She held out a hand and he shifted the cup to his other hand and grip onto hers. 

“My destiny is clear. I should fight by your side.”

“Hey, no problem, I’m glad that I could-” Hotshot paused, letting go of Override’s hand before his processor registered her words. “Wait, what?”

“I wanna help you. To combat evil, you’ll need every ally you could get.”

“Great!” he watched as Override turned away, towards Optimus, but their conversation was lost to him when Dirt Boss made his way over to him.

“Nice racing there, kid.” Dirt Boss grunted, arms crossed.

“Thanks, ‘Boss.” Hotshot grinned at the older. “So, what you gonna do now?”

“Probably same old. Head home, race, do whatever the fuck I want.”

Hotshot bit his lip slightly, nodding. He...didn’t know what he was expecting- or why he was expecting something. All he knew he didn’t exactly want the feeling he always get in his spark when he was around the older to stop.

“You should come with us!” Hotshot suddenly blurted out and, inwardly, he was berating himself. Stupid, stupid!

“...What?” Dirt Boss stared up at him blankly, as if Hotshot said the most dumbest thing in the world. Ah, well, no point in taking it back now.

“You heard me. Come with us.”

“Kid,” Dirt Boss began, glancing warily over at Override. “Not sure that’s a good idea.”

Hotshot should drop it, he knows this. But at the same time…

He stares down at Dirt Boss from the platform...and then he was doing what Alexis had called ‘the puppy eyes’ and Dirt Boss just stared back but Hotshot did notice a small little...twitch at the corner of the other’s optic.

“Kid, stop it.” Dirt Boss huffed but Hotshot didn’t let up and he could tell that it was getting to Dirt Boss. he watched as Dirt Boss slumped and gave a long suffering sigh. “Fine.”

Hotshot broke off the eyes and grinned triumphantly, which made the other mech grumble. The mechs closest to the two were letting out snickers of their own, knowing full well that no one can resist Hotshot’s puppy dog eyes.

“Hey, Optimus!” Hotshot called, making his leader and sire-figure look over and Hotshot points to Dirt Boss. “He’s gonna be joining too!”

Optimus nodded and Hotshot could see Override raising an optic ridge but didn’t say anything. 

Today was a good day, Hotshot decided, because he couldn’t stop smiling.


	8. Back on Earth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short one and Sorry that the ending wasn't much but I tried and I hope that I wrote the panic attack accurately in this!

Hotshot stepped in the main control room of the Autobot base, looking around. It was good to be back home away from home, he thought before noting something in the middle of the room and the thing had a two visible slots on two of the sides. It didn’t take long for him to realize that this was the Omega Lock- they finally had the Omega Lock!

“I see you guys had been busy.” He stated, eyeing the Omega Lock.

“Yes,” Vector Prime stated from behind him and he noted that Override was on one side of him and Dirt Boss on the other. “We will be able to fill you in later. For now…”

“Override,” Optimus called, making Vector Prime quiet down. “Because you helped us and because it came from your planet, You have the honor of adding the planet cup to the Omega Lock.”

“Thanks.” Override nodded and made her way to the Omega Lock. She held the cup out to the Omega Lock and the cup glowed until a bright light engulfed it, changing it into the Planet Key. Then, with a gesture from her, the key slid into the slot, making to Omega Lock glow and a burst of energy shot up through the ceiling and to the outside. Then, just as soon as it started, it ended and the alarm began to go off. On the main monitor was a map of all the Earth’s continents with indicators on some of them. 

“Scattorshot?” questioned Optimus.

“The Omega Lock just pumped out a bunch of data. Looks like coordinates here on Earth!” Scattorshot explained.

“Coordinates? What are they leading us to?”

“I...Don’t know.”

When everything settled down, they were all by Optimus, waiting, staring at the monitor. Then, the leader was speaking after a few minutes of silence.

“It appears that the activation of the Cyber Planet Key from Velocitron has set of disturbing climatic reactions on Earth. Look here.” On the main monitor, there was a mass of ice that was indicated by glowing red. “The location of the disturbance is the North Pole. There are reports of unnatural phenomenon occurring in Artic locations. That is why I am deploying a team there immediately.”

“Polar bears, here comes Bud!” The youngest human grinned.

“Bud, this is serious.” Coby told the younger.

“What’s the deal, Coby?” asked Lori. “It’s like you have an icicle down your pants.”

“It’s a mission.”

“I know.”

“Then act that way.”

“I can feel my gears freezing already.” Scattorshot shuddered.

“Look on the bright side,” began Jetfire. “Maybe there will be a battle and you’ll catch on fire.”

“Now,” Optimus began, “With a team going to the North Pole...Leobreaker, Vector Prime and I will go to Jungle Planet.”

“I wanna come!” Hotshot quickly took a step forward. “I can help!”

“No, Hotshot.”

“But Optimus-”

“I am NOT letting you come with us when it’s only Leobreacter, Victor Prime and myself going.”

“But why?”

“You are not 100% and we both know it.”

“I-”

“And I do not want you anywhere near Sideways if there’s a chance he’s there.”

Hotshot’s mouth slam shut, the protest dying in his throat.

“I caught a glimpse during the battle when he got to you. We almost lost you once because of him, I will not allow that to happen again. Do you understand?” Optimus’ voice held a finality to it and Hotshot could see the older’s golden optics glow with such protective intensity that he had only seen a few times before.  

Hotshot quiet down and stepped backwards, frame sagging, conceding defeat. When his life was involved, Hotshot knew that nothing will change Optimus’ mind. He stayed quiet as everything was finalized and he could only watch as the others went on their missions, leaving him with Override and Dirt Boss.

“Well,” Hotshot sighed, looking at the two Velocitronians. “Looks like I’m on tour duty. Follow me.”

He walked out of the control room with the other two following behind. He lead them to the training room, then the rec room, pointing out the human section, the storage room and finally the quarters for all the Autobots.

“We have plenty of rooms to pick from, so choose whichever room to call your own.” He paused before eyeing the two, remember Dirt Boss’ hostility towards Override. “...Try not to beat each other to a pulp.”

He was quick to walk into his quarters shortly after, closing it before he felt his knees grew weak. He managed to make it to his berth before collapsing on top of it, sitting, taking in a shuddering breath. His intakes came in quick and sharp now as memories flew by in his processor. His hands were shaking in his lap, his spark was thrumming and pulsing almost painfully and this time, his memories really were overwhelming him. His whole frame began to tremble and his tanks felt like they were churning. He gripped the sides of his helm with his still shaking hands and all he wanted was these feelings, these memories to stop. 

His optics dim before shutting off and he didn’t hear his door opening, nor did he hear someone saying his name or the footsteps coming over to him.

What he did hear- or rather feel- was arms wrapping around his shoulders and under his knees, lifting him up before he was settled on a lap, his helm against someone’s chest, the gentle thrum of a spark filtered through his audio receptor that was pressed against the chest. He could hear someone above him talking, trying to soothe him.

He didn’t know how long he sat there, in the lap of someone else as he tried his best to just ride it out but eventually, he did and he ended up falling into recharge not long after.


End file.
